RNI 249® is a patented extract from Maca (Lepidium meyenii), a cruciferous vegetable (related to broccoli) found only in a remote region of Peru’s Central Andean Mountains in South America. Grown at altitudes of over 14,000 feet, it remains the highest cultivated crop in the world. Maca has a well-documented history of use dating back over one-thousand years. It was eaten by Incan warriors for energy prior to battle and traded to the Conquistadores, the true Incan Gold.

Initial studies conducted in Peru indicated that it increased sperm count, motility and seminal fluid volume as well as fertility and birth weight while decreasing miscarriages in domesticants. Appreciating the dichotomy of a substance that affects sexual parameters in both males and females, researchers hypothesized that it most likely acted in an adaptogenic fashion to counter the biological stresses which occur at high altitudes. Thus, after devising and patenting an extraction method, RNI 249 was first tested as a transitional feed in fish farming in conjunction with researchers at Ohio State University. Results indicated that it most likely increased the natural production of insulin-like growth factor (IGF). These results were further confirmed in arthritic human chondrocytes at Case Western Reserve University. Chondrocytes treated with RNI 249 produced IGF which caused them to repair themselves; become health; and erasing any signs of arthritis. Subsequently, the researchers received an award from the National Institutes of Health’s Institute on Aging (NIH/NIA) to support further studies.

To date, RNI 249 is the only substance, natural or pharmaceutical, which has been shown to increase the body’s natural production of IGF.

During puberty, the body produces a growth hormone (GH) that in turn, stimulates the production of IGF and is responsible for all of the growth changes – skeletal, muscle, sexual – that are seen during this cycle of life. As we age, the levels of GH/IGF gradually decrease such that by the time we are sixty, it is estimated that we have eighty percent less. This decrease is responsible for all of the changes associated with aging – muscle atrophy, skeletal abnormalities, skin elasticity, vision, hair growth, sexual dysfunction amongst others. Thus, RNI 249 can be seen as the “holy grail” in anti-aging medicine.

As proof of principle, researchers subsequently conducted a human clinical trial, sponsored in part by the NIH/NIA, in subjects with confirmed osteoarthritis. Within the 30-day period of the trial and then for most within seven days, 94% of the participants had a statistically significant improvement in mobility and flexibility and in comparison to the positive control glucosamine, a marked reduction in pain.

While RNI 249® was included in this formula in the therapeutically effective dose as seen in the clinical trial, research of others have shown that in addition to joint health and the associated improvement in quality of life, at this concentration, it should increase energy, reduce fatigue and depression as well as sexual function, including libido, desire and vitality, in both men and women. In addition, there is very strong evidence that in women, it can help alleviate symptoms associated with menopause (peri and post) and in men, those associated with aging prostate dysfunction.